


CAST OUT THE SHADOWS

by potboiler



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Catra (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Post-Season/Series 05, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24338368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potboiler/pseuds/potboiler
Summary: "I had another dream about Prime."Adora said nothing. There was nothing that needed to be said. She just slowly leaned forward and pressed her lips against the nape of Catra's neck, numbing the phantom pains of Catra's violating surgery with gentleness and warmth, and that was good enough. Catra purred and closed her eyes, loosening fresh tears."It's been months, and I can still feel it," murmured Catra. "I can't take it anymore..."
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 556





	CAST OUT THE SHADOWS

**Author's Note:**

> [Content warning: PTSD, implied physical abuse, emotional abuse, suicide mention, bad touch)
> 
> A Catradora one-off to get all of the post-S5 jitters out of my system. This starts off really angsty, but there's plenty of soft comfort and fluff if you make it all the way to the end.

_It was cold._

_Everything in Prime's flagship was cold. It was not a place built for living creatures. It was like a tomb, and Catra was being buried alive inside it._

_The metal floor felt like ice under her bare, shivering feet. Her clothes, long since stripped off her body, lay folded in the corner of the chamber with her headpiece laid neatly on top. That sad little red heap represented all that remained of Catra's brief career as ruler of the Horde._

_Catra's mind reeled when she thought about how much power she'd lost in..._

_....how long had it been? How much time had elapsed since she'd been plucked from the rubble of the Fright Zone and borne into this cold, metallic prison? A few days? A week? It was hard to tell..._

_Glimmer was gone. Catra had sent her away in a beam of emerald light, away from the claws of Horde Prime, and into the rescuing arms of Adora. There had only been enough time to scream before a mob of clones had dragged her away._

_"I'm sorry! For everything!"_

_Now, there was nothing left for Catra to do except die._

_Catra did not understand why the clones hadn't finished her off already._

_Their hands were grasping almost every inch of her body. Their cold, muscular limbs were braced around her arms, her legs, her neck. A clone was even restraining her tail, pulling it taut so it couldn’t flick around angrily as they worked on her._

_They were just holding her just tight enough to immobilize her but not tight enough to hurt. Catra could feel her limbs turning numb. It was totally excessive. Catra knew just two clones would have been enough to arrest her, but also knew that Prime wanted to do more than just stop her from moving. He wanted to prove his strength to her. Overwhelm her. Show her there was nothing she could do to save herself._

_It was an intimidation tactic Catra knew well. She'd experienced similar treatment in the Horde, on both the giving and receiving end._

_Unable to even struggle, Catra fixed the nearest clone with hate-filled eyes and got no response. Just an empty, emerald-green stare. It unsettled Catra. There was no hatred in those eyes. After Catra's betrayal, Prime's fanatical clones would never have afforded the girl something as dignified as hatred. They regarded her like an insect. A specimen. The latest in a long series of playthings that would entertain their beloved Lord of the Known Universe for a brief moment, then be disposed of._

_The clone reached down to a tray of tools, and Catra’s defiant glare drained away. There were so many knives._

_I won’t cry, thought Catra, as chills crawled from the top of her spine to the tip of her tail. No matter what Prime does to me, I won’t cry, I won’t give Prime the satisfaction, I won’t, I won’t, I won't..._

_The clone picked up a pair of scissors, then suddenly spasmed and shook as if they were being electrocuted. Their bones cracked and their blank green eyes rolled back in their sockets. Then their seizure ended as abruptly as it had begun. The clone stood still, then slowly looked down at Catra with eyes that were no longer green, but gold and gleaming with sinister, galactic intelligence._

_"Hello, little sister," said the voice of Prime, echoing out from his freshly stolen vessel._

_Catra watched as the possessed clone ran a fingertip along the edge of one of the scissors, gazing with clinical interest at the beads of black blood that grew in the wake of the razor-sharp blade._

_“It is amusing...” Prime went on, studying the drops of blood trickling into his palm. “I have instruments here that represent the cutting edge of science in the known universe, but when all is said and done, a clean blade is all I need to achieve my goals."_

_Knots formed in Catra’s belly as the possessed clone brought the scissors up to her shivering face. She had sudden visions of the blades sliding into the soft tissue of her eyes or opening up her stomach or slicing her ears away from her head._

_"Take this tool, for example." Prime brought the blade closer. "Well-balanced. Spotless. And of course, very sharp. Perfect for cutting away the bad growth so that new things may have room to flourish and be...pure..."_

_Catra squeezed her eyes shut. Prime's hatred towards her was palpable. He wanted to hurt her so much. She could feel it._

_I won’t cry, Catra told herself. I won’t, I won’t…_

_"Your situation is dire, little sister," announced the voice of Prime, in a clipped tone. "You have angered me in a way that few life-forms have ever succeeded in doing. Your suffering is guaranteed. As much suffering as your primitive Etherian nervous system can handle."_

_Catra swallowed hard. "I'm ready to die," she croaked._

_"Die? Oh, no, no, no." The clone leaned in, and when the words of Prime echoed from their stolen throat, his voice turned smooth and gentle. "I want you to live, little sister. I want you to be born again pure. I will shine my light inside you and cast out the shadows from your mind."_

_"And make me your slave?" growled Catra, drawing upon what was probably the last spark of rebellion in her body._

_"You are already a slave," said Prime. His unblinking glare intensified. "A slave to your own pain. Prime sees all, and Prime sees that Adora is not the only one who hurt you. There have been others. And not just my defective brother..."_

_The possessed clone reached forward and caressed Catra's bare shoulders. Catra's eye twitched as she howled internally._

_"You have strange scars, little sister," muttered the voice of Prime, mournfully. "They seem very old for someone so young. Someone hurt you when you were a child. Someone who weaves the shadows..."_

_A lump rose in Catra's throat. "Shut up."_

_"And the gentle Scorpion Queen." Prime golden eyes flashed again. "Typical Etherian. Full of affection. Desiring only to please her 'best friend'. But you betrayed her. It tortured her to have to hurt you, but you forced her hand, just as you have forced mine."_

_Catra swallowed painfully. "S-Shut up..."_

_"My poor, poor little sister," Prime tutted. "So much to regret. So much to mourn. Wouldn't it be wonderful to free of all that pain?"_

_"I h-hate you," Catra growled, her voice beginning to quiver._

_"I know, I know," said Prime. "And when I am finished, you will love me. You will love me more than you ever loved your precious Adora."_

_Before Catra could react, scissors opened, darted forwards, and shut with a gentle snip._

_Catra twitched in anticipation of agony that never arrived. A tuft of hair fell past her shoulders and settled on the floor like a snowflake. She opened her eyes, looked down at the floor, and gazed up at her captors in uncomprehending fear. Horde Prime's eyes stared back at her, then the clone's lips peeled back from their teeth in a smile that made Catra's heart skip several beats._

_"There," said the voice of Prime. "You look better already."_

_Snip by snip, Catra’s childhood mane was shorn away. Catra made no effort to resist. Not that she even could resist with several clones caging her with their own bodies. She watched as the floor became littered with fluffy dark hair._

_Sadness twisted Catra's insides like a knife to the belly. Her chest began to ache. She'd anticipated torture, but not this, not being sheared like an animal and seeing her own mane lying in pieces on the floor. Catra had only cut her wild hair once before. Just once, after a dark dream involving Shadow Weaver's hands crawling over her face..._

_...but even then, she couldn't bring herself to finish the job. Catra liked her mane. It was one of the very few things about herself she didn't hate. Adora liked it too. She used to run her fingers through it when they were in bed and Catra had trouble sleeping. She used to tousel it and lace her fingers through it and delicately scratch the scalp underneath in a way that turned Catra into a purring mess._

_And now it was gone._

_Just when Catra thought she had nothing more to lose, nothing more the universe could rip away from her, she was proven wrong. It was all so clear to her now. It didn't matter whether she was a little cadet or the ruler of the Etherian Horde, there would always be someone bigger and stronger to hurt her._

_By the time Catra's hair had been reduced to a layer of slick fur that hugged the curves of her skull, she was shivering like a leaf. She stiffened her jaw and tried to grasp what little strength remained in her body, but she could feel the lump in her throat return with a vengeance._

_No, she thought, panicking internally. No, no, no, you can't, you can't, not in front of him, not in front of him..._

_It was too late. Catra began to jerk with weak, hiccuping sobs. Her_ _gaze fell to the floor, afraid to meet Prime's eyes. She couldn't see his face but she knew that his golden eyes were aglow at the sight of her suffering. Prime was loving this. Catra was giving him everything he wanted._

_"Weeping already, little sister?" crooned the voice of Prime. He tutted reproachfully. "It is a bad sign for you to be crying so early on. You still have so much more to suffer before you can become pure."_

_Catra tried to control herself, but it was impossible, like trying to push a landslide back up a mountain. She couldn't stop the flood of hot tears rolling down her cheeks. They felt boiling hot. Burning. Shameful._

_Prime chuckled gently. "This isn't about my little grooming session, is it? You weep for Adora."_

_Catra's teardrops were trickling across the stiff hands of the clones pinning her head in place and landing onto the mat of shorn-off hair at her feet. The chamber echoed with her weak, high-pitched sobs. She hadn't wept like since she was a child spending a night in the cells of the Fright Zone. When she had nothing else to do but cry until the punishment ended and she could limp back to bed with Adora._

_And now there was no Adora. She was gone. The girl Catra had wanted to destroy, the girl she'd scratched and maimed, the girl who was the only one in the universe who could save her - but had every reason to despise her. Even if Adora_ wanted _to rescue Catra, all the cosmic fury of Prime's flagship and the crushing black void of space lay between them._

_It was hopeless. Catra was doomed. She was naked and shivering in the merciless light of Prime._

_"I just...just..." Catra whispered between sobs. "I wanna go home..."_

_Prime's Hive Mind buzzed with malicious pleasure. A little smirk flickered across the face of the possessed clone. They grabbed Catra by the jaw, fixed her with eyes that shone like dying stars, and whispered back._

_"You **are** home, little sister."_

Catra jerked upright.

Darkness surrounded her. Her body was totally still even as a storm of fear raged in her head. She felt a phantom pain piercing the nape of her neck. Catra clasped her hands around it, feeling for a chip or a bundle of wires squirming under her skin.

She felt nothing. Only her own fur, damp with cold sweat.

Catra stared into the shadows of her Bright Moon bedroom. Fur bristling. Tail twitching. Her wide-open blue-amber eyes shining in the dark like torches. She was too tense to even blink. She kept expecting to see a needle-tipped tendril whipping out from under the bed like a serpent. She knew it was an irrational fear. Prime had been dead for months. But it was hard for Catra to think rationally when she had to re-live drowning in amniotic fluid every time she fell asleep.

After almost a full minute of staring into the dark, Catra very slowly reached down and began to knead the bedcovers with her claws. A single coherent thought made its way through the stormclouds of panic roiling inside her head: _Just a nightmare. Prime can't hurt you anymore. Prime can't hurt anyone. Prime is gone._

_Now, remember that exercise Perfuma taught you. Take deep breaths. Focus on three things in the room. Just three things at a time._

_Walls. Ceiling. Floor._

_Pink sheer curtains. Purple blanket. Lots and lots of pillows._

_Rain pattering on the window. Plumerian flowers in a vase. Melog curled up on her pillow._

_Adora. Adora sleeping. Adora sleeping with me._

Catra jumped as the warm lump under the covers next to her began to move. The crisp purple sheets fell away to reveal Adora's face, pink-cheeked and covered with tresses of blonde hair. She was fast asleep and clutching her pillow like a teddy bear.

Catra watched Adora for a while. Focusing on the way she gently rose and fell with calm, peaceful breaths. Catra's heart started to ache at the sight of her girl at peace. If any girl in Etheria deserved a good night's sleep, it was Adora.

In just a few short months, Catra had known more love than she ever had in her entire life. It had all happened so fast. In a single day, the chains Prime had placed around the universe had been broken. The energy imprisoned in the Heart of Etheria flowed free across the land. There seemed to be a rainbow everywhere you looked. For the first time in centuries, Etheria knew peace, and it was beautiful.

The orphans of the Fright Zone got to know clear skies and fresh food. The clones and soldiers the Horde trained to destroy Etheria now helped round-the-clock to rebuild it. The princesses Catra had once feared had treated her with warmth and understanding that she knew an ex-warlord like herself did not deserve.

And then there was Adora.

At first, it had been as Catra had expected. Once the war was over, Adora couldn't wait to get her kitten all to herself. Catra was probably the most cuddled girl in the world.

But healing the damage wrought by years of cruel, merciless fighting wasn't a honeymoon. It was hard work. It took discipline. Not the soul-crushing 'discipline' they had known in the Fright Zone, but a struggle for emotional control that pushed Catra to the brink of tears over and over again.

Redemption was a delicate edge to walk and Catra had to keep her mind balanced if she wanted to walk it properly. Thankfully, Adora was there to guide her, encouraging her kitten to make peace with the ones she'd hurt, and scolding her when she veered into self-loathing.

The list of Catra's faults was long and heavy and would take years to make up for, but Adora asserted there were some things Catra should not blame herself.

Like the nightmares.

They arrived almost every night without fail.

It always started the same way. Catra went to bed, face buried into Adora's chest, calm and purring and giving no indication that she would wake up hours later bathed in freezing cold sweat and gasping as if she'd almost died. And that's if she was lucky. Sometimes the nightmares would bring Catra down onto the bedroom floor, shivering and fetal, and it would take so many gentle whispers and kisses from Adora to get her up again.

Catra had struggled with sleeping before, as all soldiers did. But after Prime had broken her mind open and helped himself to her memories, her bad dreams had mutated into something even worse. The nightmares would leave her blind. Paralyzed. They would drag Catra away from her happy present and into the dark, traumatic past and leave her there so long she'd forget her loving future with Adora existed at all.

At any other time in her life, Catra would have suffered in silence. But she knew better now. She'd swallowed her pride and asked for help. Thankfully Etheria had no shortage of people willing to help those who had been damaged by the Horde. Even if they had been part of the Horde itself.

However, no matter how hard Catra tried, her nightmares survived every attempt at removal.

Perfuma had prescribed extra therapy sessions and a strong herbal tea that made Catra glaze over for a while and nothing else.

Scorpia had attacked the problem with bear-hugs and friendship activities and, when those invariably failed, she gave Catra a strong shoulder to cry on.

Glimmer had taken it upon herself to ask about dream-magic in Mystacor, although this ultimately turned out for the worst. Micah had shown up at Catra's door a short while later offering to apply his formidable skills in sorcery to the task of helping Catra sleep. Catra refused at first, but Micah made the mistake of insisting, and Catra made the even bigger mistake of giving in.

It was sad. Catra knew Micah had good intentions. But good intentions didn't matter once Catra took Micah's outstretched hand only for their arms to suddenly writhe with purple-edged shadow. She didn't remember exactly what had happened after that. Everything became a blur of hissing and shouting. She'd later learned she'd thrown Micah over her shoulder with such terrified, adrenaline-rushed force that he'd smashed through a table.

Things were tense at Bright Moon after that. The situation was only defused when Adora took Micah to one side and explained in gentle but graphic terms why Catra would _never_ accept magic from an apprentice of Shadow Weaver.

Micah understood immediately. And then he'd sat down with Catra and apologized to her. To _her._ To Catra. To the monster who'd hurt what precious little family Micah had left.

Catra so overwhelmed she burst into tears on the spot, which made Micah apologize again, which made Catra cry even _more_ , and the ridiculous cycle had continued until Adora came in with some tissues to put her out of her misery.

Adora had a real talent for getting Catra out of trouble. Catra didn't know where she'd be without Adora-

No.

No, Catra knew _exactly_ where she'd be without Adora.

She'd still be on the Galactic Horde flagship. She'd still be a blank-eyed puppet bowing before Prime, praising him and loving him even as she howled internally every time he ran his fingers across her clean-shorn scalp...

Catra hugged herself tighter. She could feel the phantom needle grazing the back of her neck again.

Outside, the rain fell in heavy sheets across the flourishing gardens of Bright Moon. Catra looked around and remembered all the times in the Fright Zone when the pipes above her bunk would leak dirty water that hurt her skin. Catra had never imagined she'd get to sleep in a room like this one day. The queen-sized bed, with its sheer curtains and dozens of pillows, surrounded Catra like a warm cocoon. 

Adora shifted in her sleep again. Her brow creased as she twitched in an unconscious effort to find the comfiest spot until she rolled next to Catra and immediately settled with a muffled sigh. Fear stabbed into Catra's heart like a knife.

She had all this comfort, all this love, all this forgiveness, all this time to heal...

...and she was still in pain.

Catra bowed her head and began to sob uncontrollably. Tears streamed down her face and dropped to form little wet circles on the purple blankets covering her lap. She felt the mattress shift and knew that Adora had heard her and was waking up. Warm arms enfolded Catra from behind, and she reached up and grabbed them.

"I'm sorry," whimpered Catra. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to wake you-"

"Shush," whispered Adora, in a low voice that made Catra's ears tingle. "It's over now. It's gone." She pressed Catra into her chest, holding her tightly, and remembered what Perfuma had said to do in times like this. "Just listen to the rain, Catra. Tell me what you hear."

They clung to each other silently in the dark. Catra's gaze slid away from the shadows and towards the small beam of moonlight that crept through the closed curtains. Her ears flicked and twitched.

"I can hear it...tapping on the windows," said Catra, quietly.

"And?" asked Adora, rubbing Catra's arm to warm her up. She felt so cold when she was scared.

"It's rushing down the..." Catra sniffled. "Down the side of the towers..."

Adora nuzzled into the crook of Catra's neck. "And?"

"It's falling...into the fountains outside." Another sniffle. "Makes kind of a...shimmering noise..."

"You're doing great, Catra," whispered Adora. "Just focus. I'm what's real. I've got you, and I'm not going anywhere."

Catra trembled as another wave of sobs attacked her. Adora squeezed her again, holding Catra as close as someone could possibly be held until finally, the long-suffering kitten went limp and melted into her embrace. It took Catra a few moments to speak, and when she did her voice was trembling with fear and pain.

"I had another dream about Prime."

Adora said nothing. There was nothing that needed _to_ be said. She just slowly leaned forward and pressed her lips against the nape of Catra's neck, numbing the phantom pains of Catra's violating surgery with gentleness and warmth, and that was good enough. Catra purred and closed her eyes, loosening fresh tears.

"It's been months, and I can still feel it," murmured Catra. "I can't take it anymore..."

"It's okay, Catra," whispered Adora, resting her cheek on Catra's shivering back.

"No, it's not okay," growled Catra. She gently pulled a hand free from Adora's hug and tried to wipe away her tears. "Argh, I feel like such a weak little...crybaby..."

"Catra, you're not weak," said Adora. "You're in pain. Anybody would cry if they'd been through what you have."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," mumbled Catra.

"Of course I am, dummy," Adora frowned and planted a tingling kiss on Catra's neck. "That's what I'm here for." Another kiss. "To heal you. Just like you heal me."

Catra opened her eyes. Blue-gold lamps piercing the dark. She looked over her shoulder at Adora, who smiled warmly, then quickly looked back again. Catra loved Adora so much she scared herself sometimes.

"I'm not a healer, Adora," murmured Catra, "All I do is break stuff..."

Adora blinked. She knew where this was going. "Catra, please..."

"Look at you, you can't even sleep without having to comfort my stupid broken-"

"No," ordered Adora, cutting off what she knew was going to be another tirade of self-loathing. "Stop."

Her voice was stern, but there was an undertone of uncertainty. Adora feared she was adding to Catra's suffering when she shut her down, but Perfuma assured her it was necessary. If Adora wanted Catra to heal, she couldn't let her kitten scratch at her wounds.

"Catra," continued Adora. "We've talked about this. You have to stop being hard on yourself." She squeezed Catra again, nursing her trembling muscles with steady hands, and whispered: "It's not your fault."

"But, it..." Catra faltered as she choked down a sob. "It _is_ my fault-"

"Don't," said Adora, firmly. "No more, Catra. I'm serious."

Catra took a long, hiccuping breath, and everything spilled out at once. "If I just hadn't opened that portal, Prime wouldn't have been able to-"

She didn't have the chance to finish beating herself up. Adora's arms let go and Catra fell back into the plush hill of pillows heaped against the headboard. Adora crawled on top of Catra and her face, in the ethereal blue moonlight, acquired a determined expression that Catra knew well. It was the expression of She-Ra.

"I'm not doing this again, Catra," said Adora, firmly.

Catra stared helplessly into those baby-blue eyes, eyes which seemed to outshine the moons and the sky and all the stars in the Known Universe, and saw they were full of love.

"I am not gonna let you think you have to be sorry for being abused. You don't, Catra. You _don't._ "

Fresh tears clouded Catra's vision. She sniffled and tried to focus on Adora. "I'm sorry-"

Adora's eyes narrowed. "What did I just say?"

"Okay, okay!" cried Catra. She covered her face with her hands. "Please, Adora, don't look at me like that..."

Silence. Rain beat on the window panes. Adora watched Catra curled up against the bundle of pillows, snuffling back her tears. She considered lunging forward and embracing Catra but stopped herself. Healing Catra was a delicate balance. Sometimes it was better to let her gather herself rather than smother her with kisses. No matter how tempting it was.

"I know you've had to face up to a lot of people you've hurt," said Adora. Her tone lowered into a gentle whisper. "But that doesn't mean you weren't hurt too." She swallowed hard, realizing she was on the verge of tears herself. "But he can't hurt you anymore, Catra. It's over..."

"No..." whispered Catra. "No, it's never gonna be over..."

There was another silence. Catra hands balled into fists and rose up to her head, as she was trying to physically restrain the bad thoughts inflaming her mind. Her thin chest heaved as she worked up the strength to speak again.

"When you said he was gone, I thought I'd stop hurting," said Catra. "I thought I'd never have to think about him again. But...Prime just...lives inside my head...right next to _Weaver_ and the fucking _portal_ and..." Catra lost her voice, and when she finally spoke again she was quiet and high-pitched. "It's not _fair._ "

Catra was crying now. Not just sniffling. Openly crying. Her face scrunched up. Long, keening sobs echoed from her throat. Tears dribbled off her chin in unbroken streams. Adora took in the sight of her kitten in agony, still unable to find peace in a place designed to comfort her, and remembered the moment she had heard Prime's voice echoing out from Catra's stolen mouth.

_"She was afraid in the end. And she suffered."_

Adora forced down the burning sob crawling up her throat, and spoke, "Catra, I-"

There was a sudden curious meow from under the bed.

The mattress sunk a little as Melog clambered up, her ethereal mane flowing an empathetic blue. She padded across the sheets and squeezed her head between Catra and Adora. She nuzzled Adora as a greeting, then joined her in staring with heartbroken concern at Catra. Then she made herself level with Catra and very gently licked her face.

"C-Come on, M-Melog," said Catra, sniffling as a neon-blue tongue flicked across her freckled nose. "I'm having a...a _moment_ here..."

Melog ignored her and nuzzled Catra's face. Adora was caught off guard by Catra's sudden burst of laughter. It was weak and exhausted but still unmistakeably happy. By the time Melog had finished, Catra wore a gentle smile.

"Thank you," mumbled Catra. She scratched Melog behind the ears as a gesture of gratitude.

In response, Melog gently kneaded the covers and slumped against Catra's body. She fell asleep almost immediately, covering Catra like a warm, purring blanket. Catra felt the freezing chills in her body start to dissolve. She gave Melog some more well-earned ear scritches, then noticed Adora was staring at her.

"Jealous?" said Catra, giving a feeble but still smug grin.

"Very," said Adora, without hesitation.

A single gesture from Catra was all the invitation Adora needed. She crawled over to Catra and assumed her usual position as the big spoon. Catra accepted her eagerly. Her claw moved across the covers until she found Adora's hand, and guided it down to the warming fur on her stomach. Adora threaded their fingers together.

Catra lay there, sandwiched between Melog and Adora and too many pillows to count, and was lost in her own thoughts for a while.

"Adora?" she whispered, eventually.

Adora pulled Catra tighter. "Yes?"

"When is this gonna stop?"

The question hit Adora hard. She delved deep in her mind for an answer and found nothing. She thought of making up something comforting, like 'soon' or 'in the morning', but Adora loved and respected Catra too much to lie to her. So Adora gave her two harsh, honest truths:

"I don't know," said Adora, quietly. "But I'll stay here with you for as long as it takes."

Catra considered this answer in silence. Her glowing gold-blue eyes continued to look upwards. Not staring at the wall or anything in particular. Just staring.

"When I dream, I'm all alone," said Catra. "There's no Adora, there's no Scorpia, there's no-one at all. Just me and my...memories." She sighed heavily. "I guess I don't have a lot of nice ones."

Adora kissed the nape of Catra's neck again. "Then we'll _make_ nice ones."

Rain continued to lash against the windows. The storm was furious but it couldn't touch them in here. They were safe and warm. Adora stayed awake until she was sure Catra had fallen asleep. When she finally did, she started to purr. It was the kind of rumbling, deep-chested purr she only did when she was really at peace. Adora smiled. Catra must have been having a good dream.


End file.
